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UPDATE 1-Goldman Sachs gets Malaysian licences
* Goldman gets Malaysian fund mgt and advisory licences
* The award of licences comes after PM's reform measures (Updates with analyst comments, details from SC statement)
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Malaysia has given U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) licences to set up fund management and advisory operations in the country, as the Southeast Asia nation competes for foreign investments.
The licences were given as part of the liberalisation measures announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak earlier this year, the country's securities regulator, Securities Commission Malaysia SC, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Goldman Sachs' entry "demonstrates the group's confidence in the growth opportunities available in the Malaysian capital market," said the SC.
Other global financial companies such as JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) already operate in Malaysia.
The growing presence of global players such as Goldman Sachs "will boost the long-term viability of the market and draw in fresh funds," Kaladher Govindan, head of research at Kuala Lumpur-based TA Securities, told Reuters by telephone.
The outlook for the Malaysian capital markets and its fund management industry was "very positive," said Tim Leissner, co-President of Southeast Asia for Goldman Sachs.
"We look forward to playing a larger role in their development," Leissner said in the SC statement.
Malaysia in June unveiled a raft of measures to boost investment in the slumping economy and lift a laggard stock market, including waiving the condition that local companies should reserve 30 percent of any post-IPO share sale to Malay investors. [ID:nKLR467124]
Corporate activity in Malaysia is expected to rise next year and bolster the stock market, analysts say.
Malaysia this year saw Southeast Asia's biggest ever IPO after the $3.3 billion offering by Maxis Bhd (MXSC.KL), the country's biggest mobile provider.
Malaysia is the worst-performing market in Asia so far this year, up just 44 percent, compared to Indonesia's .JKSE more than 80 percent gain and Thailand's .SETI 56 percent rise. ($1=3.395 Malaysian Ringgit) (Reporting by Soo Ai Peng; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
